[jesuscript]

There’s inherent safety built into this dream. Van life in the woods sounds dangerous. Your train is traveling at a certain speed at all times on a route that’s operated by professionals. You are also not utterly alone and there is a company that can provide some customer support. You’ll never have to make a stop at a shady motel or gas station.

Van life is a first class ticket to becoming a tidbit in serial killers life story.

[chrisco255]

I live the RV life. Before this I camped in a rooftop tent mounted to my truck. The woods are among the least dangerous places you can go. But also, shocking as this is, you can take your truck or van to dense urban areas if you desire. There is little need for "customer support" when you are driving your own vehicle. Occasionally you get repair problems but mechanics are readily available in even small towns. Van life is not that dramatic.

[latchkey]

Funny, I own a campervan and have driven all up and down the west coast. The one single time I had something weird happen, it was in the middle of nowhere in a forest in Oregon. Parked on the side of the dirt road in a little side road off the main road. Was sound asleep when I heard a banging on the door. Must have been 3am or something... I got up and peered out the window covers and saw a guy standing there yelling at me to open the door. It was freezing cold out and he was wearing not much clothes for how cold it was. He looked like he had been sleeping in the forest for quite some time (dirty, long hair, beard). I yelled back at him no way that I was going to open the door and he yelled something back at me and stormed off. Didn't hear anything from him again. Grabbed a knife to keep it close and went back to bed. That was one freaky weird experience. I thought about driving off, but didn't want to try to find another place to park in the middle of the night and it seemed like he was gone so I just let it go.

[chrisco255]

That is indeed weird but could even more easily happen in downtown Portland as in the middle of the woods. I definitely think you need to maintain situational awareness and carry protection, but that is true of any kind of travel.

[latchkey]

I also spent 2 years living on a motorbike went 15k km all over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos... some of the most remote places... never once had an issue with anyone.

That said, in this case, I wasn't sleep out in the middle of a forest but I do have friends who do it more camping style and they haven't had issues.

I guess it is all just luck of the draw (or some say, karma).

[codazoda]

Ever use that roof top tent in urban areas? How hard is that?

Where I live you can park on the street for 48 hours. I suspect, however, that you can’t sleep there. You would get a knock at the very least. So, I’ve considered an incognito van that looks like a work truck. But, I wonder if you could just pop up a roof tent and sleep wherever.

I’m mostly talking about city center here. As an example, I’d love to do this in neighborhoods in CA (where locals are already street parking).

[chrisco255]

> Ever use that roof top tent in urban areas? How hard is that?

In a Walmart parking lot, yeah. I generally use Austin as my base, and in Austin, people sleep in normal tents all over the place. Rarely are they kicked out. If you're trying to park in a well-to-do neighborhood, it's possible you'll get called out for it, but quite likely if you're quiet and clean and gone the next day no one will say anything. Often, I see the big recreational vans when I'm traveling. People park them and sleep in them everywhere. As long as you're not staying multiple nights in a row in the same place, you're generally not going to bother anyone (they will usually assume you're just resting from travel).

But honestly, state & national parks are usually the way to go, particularly for tents. Sometimes it's free, sometimes it's a $5 per night honor system deposit envelope, occasionally it's a park ranger registration, depending on the location. And you don't always have to travel far off a main highway to get to a decent campsite, there's tons of spots if you look.

[bluGill]

Unless local law forbids Walmart allows free camping. There are also truck stops all over that will let RVs camp overnight (they might object to a slide out). Of course there are campgrounds all over as well.

You won't find much downtown, but get out just a little and there are options.

[prawn]

I've travelled on a few luxury multi-day train trips* and also lived for months out of a bus, camping in forests, etc. Both have felt very safe to me. People are unnecessarily paranoid about camping in forests! The best aspect of the train trips are catered food/drink, not having to drive and otherwise sitting in your cabin with a book. Obviously you don't have the flexibility of stopping, backtracking or deviating as you wish. The luxury train trips I linked below have excursions via bus to the scenic highlights.

Reading a book in your train cabin or the bar/lounge is nice enough, but so is parking somewhere with a view and the windows open, and lazing around on the bed/couch in your bus/van. e.g., we recently free-camped on the rim of a canyon: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkSY_0IODqd/

The best option IMO is a mid-scale (100pax) expedition cruise like this: https://coralexpeditions.com/au/destinations/the-kimberley/k... You get a larger room, amazing changing scenery often from a private balcony, superior expeditions, catered meals, science lectures, etc. It is superb, if you can justify paying the $1k/night - similar pricepoint to the rail trips.

* https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/

[bmsleight_]

How would you compare the luxury multi-day train trips to a (sea) cruise ? I am generally interested in trying out the multi-day train, I done many overnight sleep trains in the UK. I like cruises, (like you said not having to drive siting with a book and watching the next destination get closer).

[prawn]

I haven't done a sea cruise, other than on a freighter from Shanghai to Hong Kong back in the early 90s: not luxury! I've also done overnight trains through Asia/India/etc which are a great experience, but nothing luxury about them (triple storey bunks, people sleeping in the aisles).

The train/cruise trips I linked have been free/contra as I'm a photographer, but in each case I've largely had the same experience as a passenger, just without feeling a need to measure my enjoyment against the cost. The Kimberley trip with Coral Expeditions is comfortably at the top - you're in and out of inlets and amongst islands so the views are always interesting and changing, the landings via Zodiacs are to beautiful/historic places. Catered meals, drinks with views, cloudless weather every day, adventurous and interesting people to meet and eat with at meals. The optional afternoon lectures might be about exploration history, indigenous art, animals and environments, by seriously experienced guides. There's more variety in strolling the ship - bridge and engine room tours as well. And 100pax is a great size because you know everyone by name by the end, unless you've tried to avoid it you've had a meal with everyone including the captain, etc.

Of the Journey Beyond trips, Great Southern is the best of the two I've done. Same train as The Ghan, but it's a newer trip so the off-train wine/dine is ramped up and impressive (we photographed the second-ever trip and had the designer of the route/locations along with us). The food and drink is relentless - you eat and drink at wineries, lunch in an old gaol, out beside the beach, amongst mountains, etc. On train, you're typically in the dining carriage (2-4 person tables), the bar/lounge where you can meet other passengers, or in your small room. The base cabin is a couch which turned into a top/bottom bunk; higher class option has a queen murphy bed. On those trains, not a single window in the passenger areas is openable, so it's a bit stuffier.

The cruise rooms were far larger, king-size beds, excellent en suites, a completely comfortable and usable desk, balcony, etc. Lying on the bed with a book or working at the desk with the balcony doors open to the breeze and passing ocean was just serene. At meals, there were tables for 4-10 people and you'd just ask to join any available spots; even for an introvert, you inevitably meet interesting people. The sorts of people who are on a $1k/night expedition cruise are typically well-travelled, have interesting jobs, etc. Over 60 meals, even the dullest people I sat with were a decent, friendly couple who I was happy to talk with.

The rail trips are great, but feel a bit more contained and herded. 2-3 nights feels like it's over quite quickly too. Both formats typically attract older clientele, though there were solo 40-50s on our trips, and I find all ages fun to engage with anyway. Meals on the rail trip were probably better; The Ghan actually does a nice thing where the meals are relevant to the area you're passing through. So as you leave South Australia you're eating seafood but by the time you're in the Northern Territory, it's barramundi, macadamias, mango, buffalo, etc.

[kennedywm]

You’re more likely to die in a train accident than be murdered by a serial killer.

[lazyasciiart]

And many times more likely to die in a road accident than either.

Edit: apparently this comment, or something immediately before, was so objectionable that I got a temp ban. God knows what is going on with that.